Notes on stacking and finishing nightscapes
Practical, honest writing from Eric Brown on the craft behind NightScape Lab: the base image, why stacking helps, and how to take a night of frames to a finished image inside Photoshop.
Why a clean linear base image matters for nightscapes
Scene-linear data, ProPhoto, and why baked-in color is so hard to undo. How NightScape Lab's base image keeps white balance and grading honest in Photoshop.
Dual-stream stacking, in plain language
Why your sky and foreground need different treatment, and what Photoshop's Auto-Align can't do.
The color match that makes a composite look real
Everyone automates the mask. Getting the color right on the mid-tones is the harder half.
Start-to-finish walkthroughs
Longer, practical guides on the fundamentals: how to stack, why to stack, which tool to pick, and how to finish.
- →How to stack a Milky Way photo: from frames on the card to a clean, star-registered file.
- →Why stack at all?: what stacking actually buys you, and when a single exposure is enough.
- →Best stacking software, honestly: the real trade-offs between the popular options, no takedowns.
- →How to finish an astro image: white balance, gradients, stars, and the finishing order that works.
- →How to merge a foreground and a sky: masks, edges, and the color match that makes it look real.
- →Star removal, honestly: when to remove, when to declutter, and how to keep your stars editable.
- →Best software for Milky Way photos: the right tool by photographer type, competitors included.
One workflow, inside Photoshop and Lightroom.
NightScape Lab puts everything in these guides into a single workflow, from a night of frames to a finished nightscape. Buy once, own forever.